It's amazing what you can do with digital cameras and CG effects nowadays — just check out this short film called XXIT, which channels Blade Runner on a tiny budget. Shot entirely using the new Canon EOS C300 camera, this film manages to create a brilliant future cityscape, with lots of great Syd Mead touches.

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XXIT is the work of Stargate Studios, a production company that has done visual effects work for The Walking Dead, The Event, Heroes and several other shows. XXIT is about a condemned BioClone (or Replicant, really) who goes back in time to present-day San Francisco, to save the human her DNA was duplicated from, or rather her duplicate's boyfriend. It's sort of Blade Runner meets Terminator, I guess. In any case, the visuals are definitely the best part, especially in the opening moments.

Here's a featurette about how they shot the whole thing using these $20,000 Canon handheld cameras: